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Many of us watched the annual Academy Awards last Sunday night. The telecast started an hour and half before the actual ceremonies, as the various celebrities walk the "Red Carpet" to enter the auditorium. And that was followed by over three hours of music, film clips, speeches, and awards. For those involved in the ceremony, the night was just starting as the telecast ended. There was the Governor's Ball followed by many parties. The major networks featured the awards in their Monday morning programs.

A disturbing turn of events has occurred with the new Advanced Placement History Test. The AP has been around since 1956, offering high school students the opportunity to gain college credit by taking a very difficult class and passing a very difficult test. Unfortunately, the College Board (the same folks who write the SAT) has suddenly created a biased and left-leaning test.

A long time Covington citizen, Sarah Frances Hardeman, born to George Washington Thompson and Lillie Davis- Thompson in 1918, is being recognized and honored for her legendary acts and community service in Covington.

Snow flurries, ice and freezing rain threatened to stall business at the Capitol last week, but we were lucky enough to be able to travel safely to continue as scheduled. We passed quite a few bills this week designed to help support and protect the military service members in our state.

Our lives are molded by the long term commitments that we make. This is true with the commitments we make to one's family, to one's community and nation, to one's profession, to one's faith and to one's friends. These commitments become the standards by which we judge our decisions; they become the guide posts on our journey through life.

It's Presidents Day as I write this column, and I've just returned from a cold, wet drive to Madison, Georgia where I dined at Cracker Barrel on a righteous plate of veggies, biscuits and blackberry jelly. That's a bit of a hike from Covington, but I wanted some good food, and I wanted to test out the new Pirelli P4 tires I had installed on Lazarus, my back-from-the-dead, ancient BMW. The ride was silky smooth and the folks at Cracker Barrel had a roaring fire going - one of the other reasons I was willing to trek to ...

February 15… the day after Valentine's Day. If you are one of the 62% of Americans celebrate Valentine's Day, happy day-after. This is when all that Valentine's Day chocolate goes on sale! If you have small children, you spent the days leading up to Valentine's Day in a frenzy of glue and glitter.

We are more than a third of the way through the legislative session, and it seems like we've passed very little legislation. Some might say that is a good thing … the less laws we pass, the less trouble we can make for the people of Georgia. In any case, we have 25 days left, with the session scheduled to end on the April 2.

The Loganville Christian Academy varsity boys basketball coach, Mark Davis, reached his 200th career win over his 10 year tenure at LCA this past week. The team is currently in the Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) Region 1AAA tournament and has already secured a spot in the GISA state tournament that will be played next weekend at Mercer University.

Instead of buying chocolates and flowers for their Valentine's on Saturday, the Social Circle High School wrestling team won the GHSA 2A Traditional State Championship at the Macon Centerplex. Just a month after winning the GHSA Team State 2A title (first state wrestling title in school history), the Redskin's won their first Traditional State title in school history.

This weekend is George Washington's Birthday. You know him as the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, the presider over the convention that drafted the Constitution, and the first President of the United States.

Last month, President Barack Obama addressed the nation in his second inaugural speech and said, "America's possibilities are limitless." It was not just American citizens who were listening to him; but his words resonated with the rest of the world as well. People of different backgrounds, cultures, and countries all tuned in to see what President Obama had to say about the next four years. One of those spectators that day was Oxford College sophomore Won Chung.

During the second week of the legislative session, the House began moving a bit faster as the first few bills came out of the committee system. We voted on three measures on the House floor, the most important of which by far was SB 24, the "Hospital Medicaid Financing Program Act," also known derisively as the "bed tax." This tax, which was first passed three years ago, will reach the end of its authorization in July. It is a levy hospitals must pay as a percentage of revenue. The proceeds are then used, in combination with federal matching funds, to ...

This week the Georgia General Assembly reconvened after a one-week recess to review Governor Nathan Deal's recommendations for the Amended FY13 Budget and FY14 Budget. We are on Day 9 of the 2013 session, but already my colleagues and I are hard at work filing legislation, meeting with our committees, and listening to the needs of our constituents.

Deadlines for Snapping Shoals EMC scholarships are quickly approaching. Full details and applications can be found at www.ssemc.com. The deadline is February 8. Members may also call 770-385-2888 to have applications mailed to them.

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., once said, "It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is 11 o'clock on Sunday morning." Indeed his quote still holds true today. I would argue, however, that it is far worse. Not only are those who profess faith in Christ separated in most churches by the color of their skin, they are separated by much more. We are far quicker to tell you what denomination we are than to tell you of the Christ we follow.

Let me get this clear in my mind: we have avoided the fiscal cliff but not avoided the fiscal cliff because what was done prevents a supposed disaster but ultimately did not do enough and the danger is still with us.